The Austrian army was basically marching within friendly territory and therefore did not need many scouts, so Ladislaus asked Old John to take his cavalry to the Milan area to eliminate the bandits there.

This was a good opportunity for Old John, and he knew very well that Ladislaus was helping him establish his prestige.

For most of the Vienna garrison cavalry who were born as mercenaries with "hands and half swords", Old John, who once served as their squadron leader, can also be regarded as an old leader. Coupled with the addition of new recruits, Old John has considerable authority as soon as he takes office.

, but it will take many more victories and benefits to completely eliminate Kessell-Vitting's influence.

These can be obtained from the bandits in Milan.

Although Old John believed that Suni's wife had caused him a lot of trouble during this period, she was about to give him a child.

Not only was he about to have a child, but in recognition of his hard work in Friuli, Ladislaus also granted him the title of knight, although it was the lowest rank among the nobility, and it was not a real feudal territory, but only an annual title.

A stipend of one hundred talers.

But together with the fact that old John himself bought a house called Appleby Manor in the Württemberg area, from then on he was the knight John Appleby.

Although the enfeoffment could not be officially completed until Ladislaus returned to Vienna, John, who was over fifty years old, was still in high spirits and full of heroic spirit, as if he had regained the youth of twenty years.

When the Austrian army headed for the Spanish army stationed on the road through the city of Milan, Old John led the cavalry, led by local officials in Milan, to attack the place where several thieves were entrenched.

"Aren't you going to the mountains? Knight Appleby." Although he has not been officially canonized yet, Odd Kessler has directly called old John by his official surname.

"I won't go. Most of the villages in the mountains just don't pay taxes. They are not poisonous places. The harm is not great and the distance is too far. It would be bad if it delays the battle. His Royal Highness the Archbishop of Habsburg is more concerned about the situation in Poland.

Thieves operating along the river." Old John was also a believer in Barbarossa. Naturally, he could not ignore Oded Kessler's current upward trend, so he explained his intentions to the young man very politely.

"We don't have the support of the river fleet here. To deal with those river pirates, we must launch a surprise attack and go straight to their nest." Ye Fa'an was also strengthened by Ladislaus to join Old John's cavalry unit.

"Miss Yefaan, your great contribution in the battle against the Danube bandits is well-known to me even in Friuli." This is of course nonsense. It's strange that the credit for wiping out a few river bandits can be spread so far, Old John

This is the information I dug up from Kessell Vitting overnight. "It's just that the bandits around the Po River are different from those on the Danube River."

, the Milan area is experiencing continuous wars, and most of the ships and shipbuilding industries have long since disappeared. Unlike those Danube bandits who have certain ships, the thieves operating near the Po River are basically here just to supplement some food from the river.

It’s just an event. I just got this information from the governor of Milan. I’m speculating and selling it now. It’s just a joke.”

"Knight Appleby's intelligence work has been done well. This time it must be successful." Ye Fa'an knew that the other party said the last sentence to avoid offending her. But she really didn't care. The interests of the red-robed mage and

Her future is basically independent. She has little to do with the outside world, so she is naturally not very sensitive to authority and power.

A bandit camp in a small river branch was where Old John planned to spend the night. This bandit camp was different from the peasant hunters who could not pay their taxes. According to the reports of local officials, it was a pure remnant of Venetian rebels. After Austria's new occupation of Milan, its rule was only limited.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the big city, they collected taxes from several villages that were not as powerful as Austria's rulers. Recently, they annexed another group and occupied a small town, becoming the most powerful force within two days of Milan.

Because of his consecutive victories, the leader of this group of thieves even contacted his old boss to get support from the Republic of Venice.

It’s just that the Republic of Venice will certainly not harm its currently very beneficial friendship with Austria for the sake of such a group of 180 grassroots bandits.

But even if he didn't get a response, the bandit leader was still in a good mood. The French invasion gave him another chance. Although Austria would never recognize his power, the Kingdom of France definitely needed him, a half-local local snake, as a guide.

ah.

Of course, the bandit leader didn't know that the French army had been blocked from advancing eastward, and of course he wouldn't care much if he knew it. In fact, he was not sure how much benefit he would get from the French army's victory. He just hoped that the chaos in Northern Italy would be as good as possible.

The leader of the thieves, who was on the rise in his career and looking forward to a greater future, would not have thought that it was his "enthusiasm" that brought him disaster. He was honored to be the primary target of the Austrian government.

Most of the newly added cavalry remained with the main force. He only brought more than 200 experienced soldiers and a dozen new soldiers who could ride horses. However, it should be more than enough to deal with these enemies.

However, Old John still maintained a cautious style and personally led a few rogues and two spellcasters given by Boss Sirica to conduct a close reconnaissance of the thieves' camp.

These thieves are quite vigilant. After all, it is very common for the army to kill some thieves along the way.

They arranged light and dark sentries quite vigilantly, and indeed showed a certain degree of organization. No wonder they were able to stand out among a group of grass bandits and became the first choice for Austria's attack. Moreover, it is not difficult to confirm their origins from their clothes, although it can be said that their clothes are not good.

The body is covered, but the remaining fabric does have the faintly identifiable Woking flying lion on it.

It's a pity that these sentries may be valuable in the thieves' battle, but they were unable to resist the powerful ranger Old John. Even with Ye Fa'an's "Seven Rainbow Light Jet", the light and dark sentries were killed without any effect.

They even got to a place where they could hear the thieves discussing. After a while, the number of people and basic weapons and equipment of the thieves group was grasped by Old John.

It was even clear how many women they had robbed. These women were only slightly restricted in their freedom of movement. This group of thieves really considered themselves the masters of this place.

No wonder, after the rule of the Sforza family was destroyed by France, the Milan area, except the city of Milan, was actually in a state of anarchy for several years.
Chapter completed!